Ventilating apparatus



Oct. 22, 1940. J. D, STROB ELL 2,218,561

VENTILATING AlPARATUS Filed Dec. 7, 1937 INVENTOR +0 John D. StrobeATTORN Patented Oct. 22, 1940 I v UNITED STATES PATENT oFFIc I.

' VENTTLA'IING APPARATUS John D. Strobell, NewHaven, Conn, assignor toThe SafetyCar Heating & Lighting Company, a corporation of New JerseyApplication December '1, 1937, Serial No. 178,452

Claims. (01. 98-13) This inventionrelates to car ventilation, andposition outside of the car. It is accordingly more particularly toventilatingapparatus for a another object of this invention to providerailroad car or the like. ventilating apparatus for a railroad car orthe One of the objects of this invention is to prolike which effectivelyovercomes thesedifficulties.

I vide ventilating apparatus for a railroad car 01' Referring now toFigure 1 of the drawing, a

the like which is simple andinexpensivein conrailroad car or the like isgenerally indicated struction and sturdy and durable under condiat l0.and illustratively is of the so-called tions of extended use. Anotherobject is to prostreamline type, having a roof ll of round or videapparatus of the above nature which may flat oval cross section. Roof Hincludes a rela- 19 easily be attached to a car without extensive tivelyflat portion H a and a hip or curved por- 10 alteration of the car.Another object is to protion llb. In many instances cars of this typevide apparatus of ,the'above nature which op-' either have a relativelysmall vestibule such as crates eificiently and does not detract from thevestibule I! at one end thereof, ornone, such as appearance of the car.xAnother object is to pro-. when the cars aresecured together asarticulated vide apparatus of the above nature which is units. Where thecar is provided with one or 5' effective regardless of the direction oftravel of more vestibules, it is sometimes advisable to prothe car.Another object is to provide apparatus vide a fresh air inlet forventilation purposes in of the above nature which effectively introducesthe vestibule. It often happens, however, that fresh air into the car.Whilehindering or prethis location of the air inlet is impractical be-2 venting the admission of moisture and other cause of the arrangementofair conditioning apforeign particles. Other objects will be in 'partparatus in the car, and of course where the car apparent and in partpointed out hereinafter. has no vestibule,,other provisions for freshair The invention accordingly consists in the feainlet must be made.tures of construction,combinations of elements, To this end, and withfurther reference to and arrangements of parts as will be exemplifiedFigure 1, I have provided a Ventilator generally 25 in the structure tobe hereinafter described, and lndicatedat l2, mounted in hip or curvedportion the scope of the application of which will be Nb of car roof ll.Generally speaking ventilator indicated in the following claims. l2includes a frame l3 bordering an opening 49,

In the accompanying drawing, in which is across which a plurality oflouvers l6 extend,

shown one of the various possible embodiments these louvers being formedand arranged to pre- 30 of my invention, v ventor materially impede thepassage of mois- Figure 1 is a diagrammatic perspective view of ture,soot, or other particles into the car, as will a railroad car having myventilating apparatus be described in greater detailubelow. At theinstalled therein! 7 transverse edges I3a and [3b of frame I3,Imount.

Figure 2 is a side elevation of my ventilating a pair of deflectors l4and I5, which, regardless 35 apparatus, portions thereof being broken,away; of the direction of travel of car It, deflect air and, I into theinlet past louvers l6.

Figure 3 is a sectional elevation taken along It should be noted at thispoint that when a the line 3-3 of Figure 2. car is traveling at highspeed, the high relative 0 Similar reference characters refer to similarvelocity of air across an opening, such as opening parts throughout thevarious views of the draw- 40, results in the formation of, a lowpressure ing. Y 1 area at the leading or forward edge of the open- Inorder that various of the novel features of ing. The effect of this lowpressure is to exhaust my invention may be more readily understood, airfrom the car, rather than cause a flow thereof 5 it might here be notedthatmany railroad cars into the car, and even where an intake fan is areequipped with air conditioning apparatus provided,the predetermined anddesired amount which needs a substantially continuous supply of freshair cannot be sucked in. However, by of freshair. The usual type of airintakeis not the provision of deflectors I4 and IS, theformasatisfactory because duetothe speed of the car tion, of. theabove-noted low pressure areas is areas of low pressureare established,resulting efiectively precluded as these deflectors or vanes 50 inreduced air quantity and in some cases an act as scoops regardless ofthe direction of travel exhausting action. Intakes often applied tosoof. the car to force the fresh air into the car. called streamlinecars detract from the appear- Referring now to Figure 2, transverseframe ance of the car andareoften so arranged as to edges 13a and [3bhave secured thereto respec prevent access to .xthe filtering mediumfrom a tively deflector supports l8 and I9, as by screws 20, twosupports preferably being provided for each deflector. Supports I8 andI9 have outer edges I8a and I90, which are inclined with respect to theplane of frame I3, and which are oppositely inclined with respect to oneanother. Deflectors I4 and I5 are secured to support edges I8a and l9ain any suitable manner as, for example, by spot welding.

As noted above, ventilator I2 (Figure l) is preferably mounted on thehip or curved portion III) of roof II. Accordingly, frame I3 (Figures 1and 2) is curved to the contour of roof hip IIb. It follows thatdeflectors I4 and I5 are similarly curved, and because of theinclination of support edges I811, and Ma, deflector edges I la and I5aare spaced farther from the car roof than deflector edges MD and I527.Thus deflectors It and I5 are also inclined with respect to the plane ofroof hip I Ib and are oppositely inclined with respect to one another,so that regardless of the direction of travel of the car, one of thedeflectors leads and the other follows, so as to force air into the car.Preferably, deflectors I4 and I5 are spaced to the right and left,respectively, of frame edges I3a and I3b, as viewed in Figure 2, so asto position deflector edges Ma and I5a substantially directly over thetransverse edges 49a and 40bof opening 4B. Thus a substantial space isprovided between the inner surfaces of deflectors I 5 and I5 and opening18, as it is in those portions of the frame opening lying directly belowdeflectors I4 and I5 where the above-noted low pressure areas wouldoccur, were it not for the deflectors.

Still referring to'Figure 2, frame I3 includes longitudinal frame edges2! and 22, and as is more clearly shown in Figure 3, frame edges l3a,Ito and 22 are preferably L-shaped in cross section, edge I3aaccordingly having a depending portion 23, and edge 22 having adepending portion 24. Frame edge 2I also has an obliquely extendingportion 25. Thus frame edge portions 23, 24 and 25 effectivelystrengthen the frame as a unit, and furthermore serve purposes describedbelow.

As noted above with respect to Figure 1, opening 40 has louvers I5extending preferably longitudinally thereacross. With reference toFigure 3, louvers I6 are provided with a flange Isa at each end, andthese flanges are secured in any suitable manner to the dependingportions of frame edges Ito and I317 as, for example, portion 23 offrame edge I 3a. Louvers I6 are preferably inclined with respect to thehorizontal and at their top edges have a lip portion Ifib. As louvers itare arranged in staggered relationship and have lips 161), the passageof moisture or other foreign particles through frame IS into the car islargely prevented.

It may now be seen that louvers I5 and defiectors I l and I5 are allsecured to frame I3, these three parts accordingly constituting anintegral unit. With reference to Figure 3, the unit comprising theframe, louvers and deflectors is mounted in the inlet end of an air duct26 or the like, which extends into car ID and may be connected, ifdesired, to air conditioning apparatus. In many instances it isdesirable to provide supplemental filtering apparatus (not shown) in airduct 26, and these filters should be accessible for purposes ofreplacement or repair. To this end, ventilator unit I2 is preferablyhingedly connected to the inlet end .of duct 26, preferably bysuitablehinges 2i, the leaves of which are secured respectively todepending portion 24 of frame edge 22, and a bracket 28 secured in anysuitable manner to car roof II. To detachably maintain ventilator unitI2 in its operative position, suitable securing screws 29 (Figures 2 and3) are rotatably mounted in suitable journals 3%] (Figure 3) secured toframe edge 2|, the threaded ends 29a .of screws 29 extending inwardlyinto duct 26 where they may be threaded through suitable bolts 3|, orthe like, riveted or otherwise secured to the bottom of ducts 26.Preferably a stop 32 is also boltedto duct 26 to limit the inwardlyswinging movement of ventilator unit I2.

It may now be seen that motion of car I!) in either direction of travelresults in a positive flow of air through ventilator I2, deflector I lor IE3 effectively preventing the formation of low pressure areas in theinlet end of duct 26 (Figure 3). Furthermore, access to the interior ofthe duct is readily had through the manipulation of securing screws 29which, when unthreaded from bolts 3i permit opening or clockwiseswinging (Figure 3) of ventilator unit 12. Still further, as deflectorsI4 and I5 are preferably as long as opening 40 is wide, the deflectorsmay be relatively small and accordingly do not extend any substantialdistance outwardly of the car, thus keeping well within the clearancelimits of the car, and not detracting from the streamlined effectthereof.

Accordingly I have provided ventilating apparatus for a railroad car orthe like by which the various objects noted hereinabove are attained ina thoroughly practical and efficient manner.

As many possible embodiments may be made of the above invention, and asmany changes might be made in the embodiment above set forth, it is tobe understood that all matter hereinbefore set forth, or shown in theaccompanying drawing, is to be interpreted as illustrative and not in alimiting sense.

I claim:

1. The combination with a railway car, of means to deliver air to theinterior of the car comprising, means forming an air inlet with anopening through an outer wall of the car which wall extendssubstantially in the direction of car movement, and means to deflect airinto said air inlet comprising a vane having two edges extending atright angles to the direction of car movement and spaced from saidopening and extending therealong, said vane being positioned with one ofsaid edges spaced a greater distance from said opening than the other ofsaid edges so that it deflects air into said opening when the car ismoving.

2. In railway car construction, an outer wall structure the outersurface of which extends in the direction of car movement, means formingan air inlet with an inlet opening through said wall structure, andmeans todeflect air into said air inlet comprising a vane mounted on theexterior of the car and spaced outwardly from said opening, said vaneextending substantially parallel to the outer surface of said wallstructure and at right angles to the direction of movement of the carwith a space between said vane and said wall structure through which airflows to said opening.

3. In combination with a railway car in which air is delivered to theinterior of the car, an air inlet means having an inlet opening flushwith the surface of the car extending in the direction of car movement,means to deflect air into said inlet means through said openingcomprising a vane extending parallel to the plane of said opendirectionsaid vane having aleading edge and a trailing edge with a leadingsurface to deflect air toward said opening-whereby movement of the carin said predetermined direction causes said vane to cooperate with theadjacent surface of the car to create high pressure air conditions inthe immediate vicinity of said opening.

4. The combination with a railway car, of means to deliver air to theinterior of the car comprising, means forming an air inlet with anopening the mouth ofwhich is in a plane extending in the direction ofcar movement, one edge of said opening being a leading edge when the caris moving in one direction, and means to deflect air into said air inletcomprising a vane having two edges extending along and spaced from saidleading edge of the opening, said vane I being positioned with one ofsaid edges spaced a greater distance from said opening than the otherofsaid edges so that it deflects air into said opening when the car ismoving in one direction.

5. In railway car construction, an outer wall construction the plane ofthe outer surface of which extends in thedirection of car movement,

means forming an air inlet with an opening through said wall structure,and means to deflect ,air into s-aidair inlet comprising a flat vanemounted in spaced relationship with respect to the exterior of the carand extending along the edge of said openingv which is a leading edgewhen the car is moving in one direction, said vane being canted withrespect to said outer surface with its plane extending substantiallytoward the center line of said air inlet.

6. In railway car construction, an outer wall structure theouter surfaceof which extends substantially in the direction of car movement, meansforming an air inlet with an inlet opening through said wall structure,said opening having two edges substantially at right angles to thedirection of carmovement; and means to deflect air into said air inletcomprising a pair of flat vanes mounted on the exterior of the car withone vane extending alongand being spaced outwardly from each of said twoedges of said opening, each of said vanes having two edges extending atright angles to the direction of car movement :with one edge of eachvane positioned further from said opening than the other edge.

7. In combination with a railway car in which air is delivered throughan air inlet on the outer surface of the car which inlet has its inletopen ing in an outer surface extending in the direction of car movement,means todefiect air toward saidopening comprising, a pair of vanes posiangle with said adjacent portion-whereby movement of the car in onedirection causes one vane to act as a leading vane, and movement of thecar in the other direction causes the other vane to be the leading vane,and whereby the air flow adjacent said opening i caused to flow evenlyand air pressure conditions are created in the immediate vicinity ofsaid opening.

8. In combination with a railway car in which air is delivered throughan air inlet on the outer surface of the car which inlet has its inletopen ing in an outer surface extending in the direction of car movement,means to deflect air toward said opening comprising, a pair of vanespositioned along opposite edges of said inlet opening which edges arethe leading and trailing edges when the car is moving. each of saidvanes along one diinension being in parallel relationship with respectto said outer surface but being canted such that along the otherdimension it is at an acute angle with respect to said outer surface.

9. In railway car construction, an outer wall structure the outersurface of which extends in the direction of car movement, means formingan air inlet with an inlet opening through said wall structure, a louverconstruction mountedin inlet, and means to deflect air into said airinlet 4 comprising a vane mounted on the exterior of the car and spacedoutwardly from said opening, said vane extending substantially parallelto the outer surface of said wall structure and at, right angles to thedirection of movement of the car with a space between said vane and saidwall structure through which air flows to said opening.

10. In railway car construction, an outer wall structure'the outersurface of which extends in the direction of car movement, means formingan air inlet with an inlet opening through said wall structure, a frameconstruction hingedly mounted in said inlet opening, a louver structuremounted in said frame construction, and means mounted on said frameconstruction to deflect air through said louver structure to said inletcomprising a vane mounted on the exterior of thecar and spaced outwardlyfrom said opening, said vane extending substantially parallel to theouter surface of said wall, structure and at right angles to thedirection of movement of the car with a space between said vane and saidwall structure through which air fiOWs to said open-

